Varsity Cup rule tweaks favour attack in 2026

For nearly two decades, the Varsity Cup has positioned itself as the world’s leading university tournament and prided itself on its attack-minded laws and innovations.

When former Springbok captain and 1995 World Cup-winner Francois Pienaar introduced the project in 2008, he spoke about emulating the bright lights, big crowds and on-field drama of the American football college championship in the US.

Eighteen years later, the Varsity Cup continues to borrow from Gridiron in a continuing drive to improve the spectacle.

It remains to be seen whether the new “tap try” will be taken up by any of the senior tournaments in future, but rule-makers believe it will lead to an increase in tries on the Varsity Cup stage.

After a touchdown is scored in American football, the attacking team has the option of kicking the conversion (for one extra point) or trying a second touchdown (two extra points) from five yards out.

This season, the Varsity Cup will trial a similar scoring system, with the attacking team receiving two conversion options after they score a try.

The traditional rugby conversion – a successful kick for posts – will earn the attacking side two extra points, but if they opt for the tap option, they could earn five points for a “tap try”.

The catch is that the attacking team will have 120 seconds to attempt the tap try from the 22m line, in line with where the try was scored, and the attempt will end as soon as the attacking team infringes or loses possession of the ball. They cannot decide to go for a drop goal if they are running out of options.

If the attacking team is successful with the tap try, they will come away from the play with a total of 10 points, as opposed to the traditional seven for a try and its successful conversion.

That is, of course, before you account for the Varsity Cup’s other point-scoring laws – and it is here where things become slightly confusing for the viewer, and perhaps unnecessarily difficult to monitor for the officials and scorekeepers.

Change in tactics

The Varsity Cup’s point-of-origin rule places a higher value on tries that originate in the attacking team’s half of the field.

This season, if the attacking team scores a point-of-origin try (seven points) and then goes on to score a tap try (five points), they will come away with a total of 12 points.

It may seem relatively straightforward, but there have been incidents in recent years where the origin of certain tries has been a point of debate. Scorelines and even results have been changed, sometimes days after the event, after further analysis revealed exactly where the try in question originated.

There’s plenty to like about the Varsity Cup – and many of the laws trialled in this competition over the years have been adopted by senior tournaments. But occasionally one wonders whether a few of its rules are unnecessarily complicated and risk alienating fans, both young and old.

Years later, the point-of-origin try still has its critics. Time will tell whether the tap try achieves the desired impact. Certainly, the prospect of banking 12 points in a single play should be an attractive one for many teams.

Imagine a scenario where a team is trailing by 10 or 11 points in the final minute of a match. In a standard rugby contest, the team would have no chance of winning the game, but under the new Varsity Cup law, it could potentially win the match in the final play, providing a point-of-origin try (seven points) is scored and converted with a tap try (five points).

Scorekeepers will need to be on the ball to ensure there are no mistakes, but again, one wonders how the average fan will manage to keep track.

An average of eight tries is scored in a Varsity Cup game, and tournament organisers are hoping that the new law variations will boost this tally.

The Varsity Cup has introduced yet another change to incentivise try-scoring this year. The log tie-breaker criteria have been updated and, from this season, if two or more teams finish with the same number of log points, the side with the most overall tries will finish higher in the standings.

If teams finish with an equal number of log points and tries, then the points difference – the original tie-breaker – will be the decisive factor.

Substance behind the hype

For many, the Varsity Cup is about the gees (spirit) and little else. That said, it’s a serious endeavour for the coaches and players, who are determined to use this platform to launch their senior careers.

There are countless stories of coaches and players making the step up to professional rugby, and as many as 61 Springboks have come through the Varsity Cup ranks.

From 16 February to 13 April, the Varsity Cup will showcase the stars of tomorrow and, as far as the respective teams are concerned, there will be several storylines worth following.

Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria have won the most titles (five apiece). Maties last lifted the trophy in 2019, whereas Tuks sat out the 2024 season in the second-tier Varsity Shield and only returned to the Varsity Cup in 2025.

Will Maties end their drought in 2026? Can Tuks punctuate their comeback story with yet another title?

After winning the tournament last season, the University of Cape Town (UCT) are looking to make history this year by becoming the first Ikeys side to achieve a back-to-back title victory.

“We don’t want to focus too much on the past, but we know what this jersey represents,” said Ikeys captain Enos Diao. “It could also be the first time a UCT team has gone back-to-back; it’s never been done. So there’s no complacency in our camp.”

Emeris (formerly Varsity College) will make their Varsity Cup debut this season after being promoted from the Varsity Shield at the expense of Wits. It remains to be seen whether they will finish among the top seven after the league phase ends and avoid automatic relegation.

The promotion-relegation narrative, as well as the story about the push for semifinal places, will start to shape when the competition kicks off on Monday, 16 February.

Emeris will travel north from KwaZulu-Natal to face the University of Johannesburg, who finished seventh last season and narrowly avoided the drop after they beat the Madibaz 24-21 in a promotion-relegation playoff.

Two matches will be staged in Bloemfontein on Monday: the University of the Free State (Shimlas) are hosting the Maties, and the Central University of Technology (Ixias) are playing the North West University Eagles. UCT, the defending champs, will head up to Pretoria to tackle Tuks. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.